Pancit Bihon Recipe (Filipino Fried Rice Noodles)

I have been so busy as of late. My sister and nephew are in town since before Christmas and every day has been fun since they got here—eating out, shopping, sightseeing, and showing them around. I haven’t had much time to get online and cook, other than cooking and shooting for my cookbook (details to follow soon!). Anyway, today, I have a guest blogger Charlotte from Javafoto here with a pancit recipe. I love pancit and am so glad Charlotte—a Filipino born and raised in Manila but now lives in Portland, Oregon—came to my rescue. Please welcome Javafoto to Rasa Malaysia and let’s all learn more about Filipino food, an interesting and delicious Asian cuisine that I resolve to explore further. Enjoy!

Pancit literally means noodles in Filipino, so just like other Asian cuisines there are several variations of it around the Philippines. Growing up in Manila, we always celebrated birthdays at home with some kind of pancit. “Pampahaba ng buhay (for long life)”, my lola (grandmother) would say. My favorite is the pancit bihon. This classic Filipino noodle dish is relatively easy to make and can be put together using simple ingredients.

Consider this a basic recipe to build on. Some variations include the addition of Chinese sausage, chorizo, or simply vegetarian. When short on time, store-bought chicken stock will work fine. I prefer an organic stock or at least one that is minimally processed and low in sodium. This pancit recipe assumes homemade stock with no salt added. Adjust flavorings if using store-bought chicken stock.

Mm…thanks for sharing! The best part is knowing what the Filipino brands are. I’ve made versions of this before – it’s fairly similar to a number of different Asian noodles – but was never 100% sure if I was using the right spices. Now I know!

I’m a Filipino, and I have to say, the bit about constantly tossing the noodles for them not to stick is an UNDERSTATEMENT, hahaha. I really dislike making this dish because my arms hurt from tossing the heavy wok :-( Nonstick is the best way to go.

And a note: yellow lemons are almost never available in the Philippines, so real Filipino pancit uses “calamansi” lime. I find regular limes, and not lemons, are a closer substitute.

I love pancit! The first time I ate it, I mmm’d and yumm’d my way through three servings. My good friend from the Philippines makes with long beans and a lot of veggies. She usually puts some aside for me when she cooks up some. Hopefully, she’ll read this and get the hint.

A, yellow American lemons are available all over the supermarkets in Manila. You will be surprised what you can find in Manila and most cities outside the metropolis these days. Lemons are suggested in the recipe since it written by someone who lives in the US where calamansi is not always available. But in the Philippines calamansi is the way to go. What amazed me was this was a very common fruit in Malaysia and Singapore.

We wish to see more Filipino recipes in this blog. We also look forward to your cookbook.

Thank you for featuring my favourite Filipino noodle dish. I just made pansit the other day and I truly enjoyed it. Pancit goes well with suman ( glutinous rice in coconut milk wrapped in banana leaf) or puto (steamed rice cakes).

I’m looking forward to your cookbook Bee. I’m very excited to have a copy of it in my collection.

Great job! The varieties of ingredients are endless!
In addition to the soy sauce and fish sauce, oyster sauce also will go well. Also, my mom told me that when you take the heads of the shrimp, get some of the red “stuff” 9for lack of a better term) from the head of the shrimp. That’s where LOTS of the flavor comes from. Lastly, black pepper is a MUST. It adds lots of spice. In fact, one of my friends also added just a hint of chili garlic sauce for a spicy pancit variation.

Yay! Thanks for featuring another Filipino recipe here Bee! And thanks for the opportunity to discover another Filipino blogger (hello Charlotte! Great pancit!) :) And lastly, congratulations on the book deal…please keep us posted! I eagerly await for it here on my shores :)

I love love this recipe!!! It is simple and the taste is flawless. I followed your direction to the T and its just amazingly delish! It tasted just like this restaurant back home in Saipan called Skyway Restaurant. Every time I get a chance and visit home this is my first stop I love how the cook makes his pancit bihon. Now… im not so far away from home :) Thank you again for sharing this recipe and showing pictures of the dish. Awesome Job!

Oh, so lovely… i love this as well, this dish is well-known as breakfast dish for Filipinos. The usual pancit Bihon has pork on it. First, you have to saute sliced-into-strips pork, then set aside, saute onion, garlic, pork liver, stripped carrot, baguio beans, cabbage, you can add shrimp as well, dashes of black ground pepper, soysauce, little of salt. then you may add the noodle and mix well. Put into a platter then squeeze calamansi on top then serve hot. :)

I used to have a Filipino friend and her mom served pancit at every gathering I attended. This recipe is exactly how I recall it tasting. Delicious!! Thanks for sharing. I couldn’t find Excellent brand at Super H Mart but did find rice sticks with cornstarch. I don’t own a wok :-( but my largest cast iron skillet worked fine.